Jeremiah’s Roller Coaster of Emotions
Because the words of the Bible were written so long ago, and because it is held up as a sacred text, we often don’t think much about tone in the writing. If the words of the Bible were inspired by God, then the words are important, not so much the tone they are said in. If we look at the Bible as a strict set of liturgical, historical, and theological statements, with some poetry mixed in, then we risk reducing it to something emotionally flat. It’s more about knowledge than about experience. But sometimes, the tone of a passage speaks louder than the words themselves.
We can see an example in our Old Testament reading for this Sunday. Jeremiah 15:15-21 can be divided into two sections. First, Jeremiah speaks about his experience of serving God in verses 15-18. Then God responds with the final three verses. The first half is emotionally interesting. We see the tone shift with every passing verse, sometimes multiple times in a single verse. It starts with an expression of confidence and trust in God before moving to some passive aggressive accusations at the end of the first verse. The aggression gives way to joy and celebration in God’s words in verse 16. Then Jeremiah moves to claim his own faithfulness at the beginning of 17, before accusing God again. The mood here is one of isolation and shame. In the next verse, Jeremiah complains about the pain that serving God has put him in. Finally, he offers some scathing criticisms of God at the end of verse 18, comparing God to a “deceitful brook.”
The tone from Jeremiah’s perspective is constantly changing. Overall, paying attention to the emotional content, it could be read as highly anxious. It certainly makes one feel a little anxious reading it. Over the course of a few words, Jeremiah praises God, accuses God, complains about his hardship, celebrates himself, and even insults God. We can imagine someone pouring their hearts out before God, laying all their troubles on God in one tear-filled prayer that leaves them shaking by the end of it.
And then God responds.
God’s tone is constant, promising help for Jeremiah if the prophet continues in the work God has given him. God isn’t accusing him, aside from maybe a hint of an implied accusation at the end of verse 19, possibly suggesting that Jeremiah had been uttering useless things before. That may just be a matter of poetry, not an accusation, but even if it is, this passage remains fairly fixed in tone. God provides comfort and promise in the face of Jeremiah’s complaints.
The scene is almost comical if we imagine it playing out between two normal people talking to each other. Jeremiah appears to be one of those people who process things externally, discovering how they really feel by working through everything out loud until something sticks. Jeremiah argues with himself, shifting tone and presenting several possible points, being both respectful and disrespectful. God is the opposite, waiting until Jeremiah is done before offering one single, but definitive line of support.
I don’t want to suggest that processing feelings internally is inherently better or more godly, but I do want to highlight the difference in approach here. A lot of words are said, but the underlying tone tells us something deeper about this interaction. Jeremiah is desperately anxious, struggling under the weight of God’s mission, uncertain of how he can do it, worried about the people who are attacking him. Jeremiah is struggling to cope with how God can put him in these impossible situations. Jeremiah is struggling to stick to the plan. His whole world is crumbling around him. I suspect many of us have been there before. We struggle to follow the plans God has for us, uncertain if this is really the path we are meant to walk, or uncertain that God has made the right choice in sending us to face these challenges. When these uncertainties mount, we doubt ourselves. We may even doubt God. Filled with anxiety, we lash out. If the plan doesn’t work for us, then the plan is wrong, and we’d rather be cut adrift than fight a losing battle against impossible odds. Better to find our own way, than struggle to follow God’s way.
This isn’t to suggest that we are simply hedonistic sinners, ignoring God’s design for us because we’d rather enjoy the pleasures of the world. Rather, the problem is merely that we are human, limited by our own senses and mortality, unable to see all ends. And in the darkness of the storms of life, we are afraid.
Notice that God’s response isn’t condemning Jeremiah’s anxiety. God isn’t dismissing his feelings and calling him faithless. God isn’t telling him that it is all in his head, that he needs to grow up and get over it. God acknowledges the real challenges Jeremiah faces, the hardship that God’s mission lays upon him. Jeremiah is right, being a prophet is difficult. Instead of dismissing and ignoring, God promises to be present with Jeremiah. It isn’t that Jeremiah doesn’t have any problems or that God will simply make them all disappear. There will certainly still be hardships to face, but against all those threats, God will deliver him.
We have a tendency to underplay our own struggles in life. Sometimes, we simply don’t want other people to know that we struggle, whether that be doubting ourselves, doubting our faith, or simply facing hardships with our material conditions. However, this passage invites us to let go of some of the pride that stands in our way. We can lay out our struggles to God, we can be angry, even disrespectful, and God will listen. God understands our fears and anxieties and invites us into communities where they can be named, seen, and recognized. We can unload the burdens the world puts upon us, the weight we carry as God’s servants to the world, and speak honestly to one another. Being a Christian isn’t always easy, but when things get difficult, just like Jeremiah, God will be there to deliver us.
